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Here is another photograph of men of the Royal West Kent Regiment posing in front of a Rice blockhouse. The image posted by Everhard shows one of Rice's earlier octagonal structures, whereas this photograph depicts one of the later round type.

To while away their idle hours, these men clearly took to needlework, as is evident from the rather brash "SA" tapestry stable belts they are sporting.

Captioned: Private John Robert Rye [standing at the back, far right] and fellow members of the Royal West Kent Regiment.

Note the distinctive array of webbing bandoliers, which are of similar patterns to those in Everhard's picture. Also the flare in front of the man on the far right.




There seem to be issues with the pencil caption, which is in a later hand. I can find no evidence that a J. Rye served with the West Kent Regiment, though a man of this name does appear on the medal roll for the 3rd Bn. East Kent Regiment (The Buffs).

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I suppose this was taken in 1902, and it’s interesting to see that the men are armed with Lee Metford Mk 1* rifles so late in the war.
Also interesting to note the signal rocket in front of Private Rye, I assume this was to be set off if they came under attack.

Neville, as usual a great picture. I have no idea why these Royal West Kent Regiment men seem to be such a happy lot. Below see the Standing Orders which must have hung somewhere in the blockhouse. As you see, there was little in there that would make the men dress up like cowboys and smile. Note the references to the signal rockets. These Orders are possibly incomplete, nonetheless a rare survivor.

What an exceptional document, Everhard. Surely a unique survivor.

Here we have more evidence of how soldiers on blockhouse duty filled their time.


First up, an improvised banjo and cornet duet, photographed at Springfontein.





Secondly, the interior of an officer's quarters, bedecked with sporting guns and bottles of hard liquor. This gives a good idea of how Lieutenant George Stuart Morley, 2nd Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment, kept himself entertained. The weapon leaning against the wall on the left is a "Cape" gun, a piece that was constructed with both a large calibre rifle barrel and a shotgun barrel. Note also the captured carbine on the far wall, and the Broomhandle Mauser hanging from a nail in the corrugated iron on the left. Access to the loopholes would have been difficult should the blockhouse have come under attack, Morley having to stretch over his improvised side-table or clamber over his bed to get a good shot.





And, finally, a soapstone Bible, carved by a Devonshire man while stationed at Natal Hill, Machadodorp. Conveniently, Bloemfontein Museum has an image showing the blockhouses in that area, with Google satellite overlay. This indicates that the Bible was probably carved at Blockhouse No. 61.



Courtesy of the W.M.B.R., Bloemfontein



© Mapbox

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Amazing posts – thank you Everhard & Neville.

Everhard’s Standing Orders:

Strength – I read it as “The Garrison of this post is 1 W. C. O. & mess”. Am I right and if so what does “W. C. O.” stand for?

5. Rifles and Ammunition – “A reserve of 200 rounds of S. a. a. per man”. Again have I read it correctly and does “S. a. a.” mean small arms ammunition?

From Sections 8 & 9, I deduce the blockhouses covered by this standing order were about 2,500 yards apart i.e. 3 times 800-900 yards. Is my interpretation correct?

From Section 12, I deduce that the “native watchers” were only allowed to be armed with rifles at night and then it was Martini-Henry (M. H.) rifles. Is my interpretation correct?

Going back to Neville’s John Robert Rye I could not find him either and 5797 J Rye of the 3rd Battn East Kent Rgt appears to be the most likely of a very limited number of men with the surname Rye – unfortunately I cannot find his attestation papers/service papers on FMP or Ancestry. He qualified for the CC & OFS clasps on his QSA but not the Transvaal clasp.

The unit info on this site for the EKR does not mention the 3rd Battalion but a Wikipedia page entitled “East Kent Militia” has several paras about their time in the ABW. They arrived in SA on 28th March 1900 and for the rest of that year had nothing to do with blockhouses but at the start of 1901 things changed “For the next year the battalion was used for convoy escorts and to man the lines of blockhouses that were constructed to restrict the Boers' freedom of movement. On 1 August 1901 six men of the 3rd Buffs under Sergeant Pincott were manning Blockhouse 493/1 when they were attacked by 250–300 Boers. Sergeant Pincott was soon killed, but the garrison held out until only one was left unwounded and the Boers forced their way in. The Boers then withdrew having suffered heavy casualties. Skirmishes along the blockhouse lines were constant throughout the year. The 3rd Buffs were relieved and embarked on 21 January 1902, but only as far as Saint Helena. Here they spent a further six months guarding Boer prisoners of war. The battalion was finally disembodied on 17 July 1902.”

Newspaper reports confirm that what was left of them did go to St Helena on prisoner escort duty. The death of Sgt Pincott and wounding of 4 other members of the battalion is reported in newspapers of the day but the Wikipedia author has the date wrong – it was 8th August and this is confirmed as date of death for 4836 Sgt Pincott on the battalion medal roll. The place was “Hountenbeck near Eensgevonden” which I believe was in the OFS just north of Bloemfontein. Where the Wikipedia author got the info regarding the blockhouse identity I have no idea.

So despite the pencilled caption, is the photo of men of 3rd EKR? – the different design from McCracken Villa would tend to support this notion.

One assumes the SA on their waistbands stands for South Africa but could it be South Australia?

David,

The first line reads: "Strength. The Garrison of this post is 1 N.C.O & [blank] men". The omission of a number might indicate that the garrison could vary, depending on the individual blockhouse.

J. Rye's papers can be found under 12831 Private J. Rye, Royal Garrison Artillery. However, they are not very helpful.

A note on the back of the photograph indicates that Rye served as a Stoker during WWI, seeing action in the Dardanelles (with HMS Endymion & HMS Albemarle). This at first seems unlikely. However, two of his brothers, listed as his n.o.k. in 1902, were in the Royal Navy, so his family had a strong naval connection.
Checking the records a man of this name did indeed serve with the Navy during WWI, with service number S S 102646.

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